Gazpacho Spinach Salad

This refreshing, veggie-filled Gazpacho Spinach Salad Recipe with a piquant Red Wine Vinaigrette got rave reviews from my book club. It paired delightfully with our flank steak fajitas!

Gazpacho Spinach Salad Recipe

I was hosting our holiday book club meeting so I pulled out all the stops for dinner. My gracious guests loved every single dish, including this twist on the classic spinach salad with a tangy spinach salad dressing. Many spinach salad recipes, like my mom’s version with strawberries, has a sugar-laden dressing. This version was much more suitable to complement the grilled beef in my entree.

What Is Gazpacho?

I was introduced to gazpacho as a child. My dad worked at the Physics Institute in Aspen, Colorado, for a number of summers. It was a chance for us Midwest born and raised kids to be exposed to ballet, concerts, and more exotic food than we found in Ames, Iowa. It was in Aspen where my parents first experienced gazpacho, and it wasn’t long after that my mom found a recipe to make at home.

Gazpacho is a cold, blended Spanish soup of raw vegetables that came from the southern Andalusia region of Spain. Popular in both Spain and Portugal, it’s served most often during the hot and sultry summer months.

Gazpacho typically contains tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, garlic, bell peppers, olive oil, and wine vinegar. Stale bread is often blended in as a thickening agent, though my mom’s version was topped with homemade croutons instead.

Now there are numerous varieties of “gazpacho,” most being cold blended soups with either a fruit or vegetable base.

Easy Spinach Salad Recipe

As a huge fan of gazpacho, I’ve been drawn to a couple of gazpacho salad recipes. This easy spinach salad just involves some chopping and whisking.  The red wine vinaigrette provides the perfect amount of tartness, and it complemented the chopped vegetables wonderfully. 

What to Put in a Spinach Salad?

First, there must be spinach. Baby spinach is always preferred for salads as the young stems are more tender than with regular spinach.

The old classic spinach salad has a hot bacon dressing, spinach, mushrooms, onions, bacon, and often hard-boiled eggs. Then there is the strawberry spinach salad with spinach, fresh strawberries, and a very sweet vinegar-based salad dressing. Plus there are many other variations of spinach salads and dressings.

But for this Gazpacho Spinach Salad, it’s the typical gazpacho vegetables that take center stage. Cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, and onions are chopped into bite-sized pieces and served over spinach with the red wine vinaigrette. 

PRO-Tip: If you don’t like the sharp taste of raw onions in your salad, dice them small, then soak them in ice water for about 10 minutes. Drain and add to your salad. They will become much milder!

This recipe was first posted in June 2011. Photos and text were updated in 2019.

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Gazpacho Spinach Salad

A spinach salad filled with chopped vegetables and topping with a red wine vinaigrette

Ingredients

Salad:

• 1 pound of Campanelle tomatoes, cut into eighths or grape tomatoes, cut in half
• 1 small red onion, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 yellow bell pepper, diced
• 1 English cucumber, peeled and diced
• 2 six-ounce packages of baby spinach

Dressing:

• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup sherry vinegar
• 1 tablespoon grainy mustard
• 1 tablespoon honey
• Pinch of red pepper flakes
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 3/4 cup olive oil

Instructions

Combine tomatoes, onion, peppers, and cucumbers in a bowl; toss.  Put one bag of spinach into a serving bowl, layer with half the diced vegetables.  Add the second bag of spinach followed by the rest of the veggies.

Mix all dressing ingredients except the oil.  Slowly add oil, whisking to combine.  Toss salad with dressing right before serving.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

6

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 305 Total Fat: 28g Saturated Fat: 4g Trans Fat: 0g Unsaturated Fat: 23g Cholesterol: 0mg Sodium: 130mg Carbohydrates: 14g Net Carbohydrates: 0g Fiber: 3g Sugar: 7g Sugar Alcohols: 0g Protein: 3g